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Broadway star Nick Cordero wakes up after a month in a coma due to COVID-19

'He is awake!' His wife announced on Instagram that Cordero has been able to open his eyes, though he is still weak.

Author: Erin Patterson (TEGNA), Associated Press

Published: 5:50 AM PDT May 13, 2020

Updated: 5:50 AM PDT May 13, 2020

LOS ANGELES — Tony Award-nominated actor Nick Cordero has woken up from a medically-induced coma weeks after doctors amputated his leg as part of treatment against coronavirus, his wife announced on Tuesday.

Amanda Kloots made the announcement on her Instagram story while she held her and Cordero's 10-month-old son, Elvis.

"Dada is awake, he is awake guys. I asked the doctor today, ‘Can we say he’s awake?’" Kloots said. "He is awake. It’s just that Nick is so weak right now that even opening his eyes, closing his eyes, takes out, like, all of his energy.”

In the Instagram story, she added that the road to recovery will be long, but Cordero's ability to follow commands is a sign of his mental cognizance returning.

Cordero, 41, has been in the intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles since late March. His wife has been sharing updates about his health struggles through Instagram. On April 1, he was placed on a ventilator.

In the middle of April, the Broadway actor had his right leg amputated after having blood clot issues.

The 41-year-old actor played a mob soldier with a flair for the dramatic in a 2014 Broadway adaptation of Woody Allen's 1994 film “Bullets Over Broadway," for which he received a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a musical. He has also starred in “Rock of Ages” and "A Bronx Tale."

Credit: Brad Barket/Invision/AP, File

FILE - In this April 10, 2014 file photo, actor Nick Cordero attends the after party for the opening night of "Bullets Over Broadway" in New York. Tony Award-nominated actor Cordero, who specialized in playing tough guys on Broadway, will have to have his right leg amputated after suffering complications from the coronavirus, his wife Amanda Koots said on Instagram, Saturday, April 18, 2020. (Photo by Brad Barket/Invision/AP, File)

On the small screen, Cordero appeared in several episodes of “Blue Bloods” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as well as “Lilyhammer” and he had a role in the film “Going in Style.”

A GoFundMe was set up to help with his medical expenses. As of May 13, the fund raised more than $516,000, surpassing the $480,000 goal.

The virus has sickened other Broadway veterans, including the actors Danny Burstein, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit and Laura Bell Bundy as well as composer David Bryan. It has also claimed the life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally and actor Mark Blum.